Strategy Stock Is Under Pressure. Earnings Show Management Has a New Playbook. -- Barrons.com

By Mackenzie Tatananni

Strategy stock is under pressure. Can quarterly earnings reverse the trend?

The company formerly known as MicroStrategy reported second-quarter earnings after the closing bell Thursday. Perhaps more important than the raw numbers was commentary from management regarding its Bitcoin treasury playbook, which has faced scrutiny in recent months.

Strategy built its reputation as a crypto whale starting in 2020, when it deployed $250 million of corporate cash to buy 21,454 Bitcoin, establishing the digital currency as a primary reserve asset.

In the years that followed, Strategy amassed more and more cryptocurrency. Fast-forward to present day: The company hasn't purchased Bitcoin in over a month. Rather, it has periodically sold, breaking from the longtime buy-and-hold mantra of its chairman and co-founder, Michael Saylor.

Saylor acknowledged Thursday that the company was working through a period of "muted Bitcoin sentiment and market skepticism." The company swung to a $8.22 billion loss from a profit of $10.02 billion in the same period last year.

No one is more familiar with that sobering reality than shareholders. Much of the market's attention has fallen on Strategy's Stretch preferred stock, which fell to a record low in late June.

CEO Phong Le detailed the company's plans to push the preferred shares -- which trade under the ticker symbol STRC -- back toward their $100 par value.

"If STRC trades below $100, we intend to repurchase STRC shares in a regular and disciplined manner, scaling our repurchases according to market price and liquidity," Le said. He described the buybacks as "an attractive use of capital" that reduces the company's future preferred dividend requirements at a discount.

Strategy's common stock, too, has been pressured this year amid a protracted slump in the price of Bitcoin and lingering concerns over the company's ability to cover its dividends. Shares are down 36% in 2026; the Nasdaq Composite has gained 8.1% over the same period.

Just last month, the company unveiled a new financial framework intended to assuage investor concerns. The plan included provisions for selling Bitcoin and opportunistically buying and selling shares rather than issuing them continuously.

Strategy's board has authorized up to $1.25 billion in Bitcoin sales to bolster its U.S. dollar reserve, which is locked down for interest and dividend commitments.

Although Strategy is technically an analytics software provider, it has strayed further and further away from these roots since its founding in 1989. The legacy software business generates negligible revenue as Bitcoin continues to dominate its balance sheet.

The company posted $122.4 million in second-quarter revenue, roughly in line with the $122.9 million analysts had expected. As of the end of the quarter, Strategy's crypto holdings stood at 846,000 Bitcoin, which were valued at roughly $54.8 billion on Thursday.

Following post-quarter sales, Strategy's holdings dropped slightly to 843,775 Bitcoin acquired for roughly $75,476 apiece. At current prices around $64,785 per Bitcoin, those holdings are now trading below their average purchase price.

Conventional performance metrics take a back seat when it comes to Strategy's earnings reports. Investors are far more focused on management's outlook -- specifically regarding the updated strategic framework, future expansion, and a potential resumption of Bitcoin purchases.

When it comes to plans to buy Bitcoin, management is remaining tight-lipped for now. The company said it has sold around $218.4 million worth of Bitcoin this year to fund a portion of its preferred stock dividends.

Shares slipped 0.6% in after-hours trading following the report. The stock closed up 4.7% at $97.74 on Thursday.

Write to Mackenzie Tatananni at mackenzie.tatananni@barrons.com

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July 30, 2026 16:58 ET (20:58 GMT)